In a Fournier Hall classroom on the campus of Chestnut Hill College sit two neatly made twin-size beds, a small area carpet, a vacuum cleaner, and a refrigerator. The white board at the front of the room has the schedule of activities, highlighted on this day by a trip to Doylestown’s Mercer Museum.

Fournier Hall is the epicenter of campus activity at the 102-year-old college that sits on the border between Philadelphia and Montgomery counties. It’s home to administration offices, a dining hall, dorm rooms and classrooms. Its halls vibrate with the energy of students and faculty members hustling to and from classes.

Through the door of the classroom with the beds and carpet, smack dab in the middle of all that activity, is the Life Skills through Career Program. Launched in April, it is the only college campus-based vocational, life-skills curriculum in Pennsylvania for developmentally disabled adults, who may have co-occurring autism, who have aged out of high school.

And it is available to families who qualify through the state’s Office of Developmental Programs.

“We have made a deliberate effort to serve a population of developmentally disabled adults who otherwise may not be receiving services of any kind,” said Stephen J. Stunder, director of the college’s Neurodiversity Initiatives. “What we are doing here, in this capacity, is truly unique and it does not exist anywhere else.”

For years, Chestnut Hill College has aspired to develop a program for its neurodiverse, degree-seeking students. But the college, founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1924, didn’t have the resources or personnel to design a curriculum.

That changed in 2019 when then-President Sister Carol Jean Vale hired a trio of neurodiversity learning experts. One specialized in assessment, another was the parent of a neurodivergent child. Stunder’s area of expertise is program development and execution.

The college was working on developing a curriculum for its students when the pandemic hit. For all the chaos it otherwise caused, the pandemic afforded the multidisciplinary team the time to create and develop a neurodivergent program for its degree-seeking students. In 2021, it rolled out a pilot program with three students. Today, it has grown to 26 students.

But Sister Carol’s vision was never just about providing for the school’s neurodiverse population. Her vision, Stunder says, was to create multiple programs to serve neurodivergent people beyond the college campus. Neurodiversity recognizes that people think, learn and interact with the world in different ways.

In Pennsylvania, neurodiverse individuals can attend high school until the day before their 22nd birthday. After that, few services are available. The Life Skills program, Stunder says, is a way to fill that gap.

“Our goal has been to create an initiative, not just a program — but a culture,” Stunder said. “We want Chestnut Hill College to be a destination for the neurodiverse community and create best practices that can be replicated.”

Initially designed as an off-campus residential program, Life Skills evolved into a five-day-a-week, six-hour-a-day, on-campus class. The on-campus setting fit perfectly with the state’s “everyday lives” philosophy for the neurodiverse community.

“We are right in the middle of the action and the state could not have been happier about that,” Stunder said. “The idea is you are living an everyday life, just like everyone else.”

While housed on a college campus, Stunder stresses that it is not an academic program.

“We are operating a human services program on a college campus,” he said.

Life Skills serves people ages 21 to 30 who show potential to work and live independently. To enroll, families apply for funding through the state’s Office of Developmental Programs. Once approved, they are assigned a support coordinator and an Individual Service Plan (ISP) is created. The final step is identifying Chestnut Hill College as the provider of choice.

The most frequently asked question by families is, “How much does it cost?” The answer for them is, nothing. As the vendor, the college bills the Commonwealth, creating a new revenue source, important for a small college like Chestnut Hill.

“When [families] hear that it costs nothing as long as they have the ISP, a support coordinator and have everything in order, you go to the state to have the services paid,” said Mallorie Ruff, the program’s billing coordinator. “They don’t know that. Families think that it is going to break the bank.”

Participants have goals and objectives laid out in their ISP and, at the end of the second year, want to work. If a participant isn’t meeting their goals, the Life Skills team will work with the support coordinator to make adjustments to the ISP. If a participant decides they are not interested in finding a job, the team will help them find a more appropriate program.

“Maybe you get halfway through the program and you’re like, ‘I don’t really want to work. I just want to live at home,’” Stunder said. “Okay, that doesn’t necessarily align with what we’re trying to do.”

The first year of the Life Skills program is dedicated to, well, life skills. The day begins with check-in around 9 a.m. followed by chores, like making a bed, vacuuming a rug, and watering plants. But 75% of the day is spent out in the community, like the Mercer Museum trip.

Outings, however, are also skill lessons. For instance, going to a museum means learning proper museum etiquette, knowing where to put personal belongings, keeping track of the group, and dealing with noise and crowds.

“The purpose of this program is to get out into the community and be able to lead a full life and cope when you are stressed out and be able to handle uncomfortable situations,” said Devin Goldsmith, Life Skills’ program specialist. “Our job is to teach them how to cope with those situations because that is real life.”

The proximity to Chestnut Hill’s shopping district offers opportunities for other lessons. For instance, participants have learned to use SEPTA’s transit system app and how to swipe their transit card when they board a bus. They also go into cafés and stores along the Avenue to buy or order what they want.

“We give individuals the autonomy to be able to do these things on their own,” Goldsmith said. “We have the advantage of this community because it has so many facets that individuals are able to do those kinds of independent things as opposed to having people do it for them.”

Learning life skills lays the groundwork for the second year of vocational skill training that hopefully will lead to a job. New participants are asked on their first day what job they would like to do. Most of the time the answer is, they don’t know. In the meantime, Goldsmith has been connecting with business owners through the Chestnut Hill Business District.

“My hope is that the Chestnut Hill community sees the good work that we are doing and wants to partner with us to be able to provide those opportunities for the people in our program,” Goldsmith said.

The program currently employs three direct support professionals working with five participants. Stunder expects the participant number to balloon up to 35 by summer’s end. Once that enrollment is reached, a second group will be formed.

“So, maximum capacity for a two-year program would be 80 and that would be bursting,” he said.

It has taken years to build the pioneering Life Skills through Career Program. Stunder is grateful for Sister Carol’s vision and the support of President Brian McCloskey, the board of trustees, and the Sisters of St. Joseph.

“You come here to work at a place like this because you believe in the mission,” he said. “When people see our individuals here on campus, it’s just another way of that mission having life. The sisters walk the walk. They say they are going to serve the underserved and they do it. This is just another example of that.”

More information about the program is here, chc.edu/about/neurodiversity/life-skills-through-career-program/.